FIF#150-The Rising of the Shield Hero

Japanese College Student and self proclaimed Otaku, Naofumi Iwatani, finds himself called upon to save another world alongside three others: The Four Chosen Heroes.  Each hero wields a mystical weapon: A Sword, Spear, Bow and Shield.  Naofumi receives the Shield, the weakest of the four weapons, but his bad luck doesn’t stop there.  An unexpected betrayal leaves Naofumi penniless and an outcast in a strange new world.  Starting from nothing and with no way back home, Naofumi must work to rank up his skills and his weapon if he is to save the world and get some payback against the ones who wronged him.  This is the journey of the rise of the Shield Hero.

Welcome, Dear Readers, to my 150^th First Impression Friday.  I was considering holding off on this until 2022 and stopping this current season back in November cause of Gundam Month Mark V.  But, so close to the 150^th mark, I decided to extend it and to commemorate the milestone, I’m once again visiting a highly requested Isekai series from another good friend of mine.  They weren’t the only one hyping this one up.  The Rising of the Shield Hero has become another one of those shows with a mega hit first season and is still waiting for its second (i.e. Attack on Titan, Yuri on Ice, One Punch Man, Re: Zero, you get the idea).  So, does Shield Hero grab my attention immediately, especially when it has twice the amount of time to do so with a double length premiere episode?

I think you know where I stand on Isekai at this point.  If not, a refresher: it’s become the Mecha Anime genre of the 2010’s and beyond.  Many new titles in its vein are being popped out every season with only a few alterations to the formula of transporting someone to another world and giving them a quest to complete (was Sword Art Online really that much of a game changer?  Debate for another day).  A couple of months ago I checked out the first episode of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom and commended it on a clever set up with its main character in her video game based scenario.  Here, I was half expecting Shield Hero to rehash Fushigi Yugi with Naofumi getting sucked into another world via a storybook.  However, I’m a bit off considering the curveballs tossed out in the first episode.  Naofumi and his other chosen heroes all hail from different dimensions and the other three were sent here via a video game rather than a book…odd but ok, I’ll run with it.  All roads lead to an Isekai and all that.

What’s definitely going to make Shield Hero stand out is Naofumi and his underdog tale.  He’s an outsider amongst the other heroes and seen as a loser since he is the titular Shield Hero and cant even wield an offensive weapon in battle.  Then there’s that seriously messed up betrayal that leaves Naofumi with absolutely nothing except the Shield attached to his arm.  I say “Messed Up” but I think you all know what I really mean.  At this point, I’d kind of hoped Naofumi would eventually get back at the one who wronged him and show his stuck up other heroes that he is a far better human being than any of them.  Naofumi isn’t an overpowered bad ass like Isekai base line Kirito from Sword Art Online.  And even if he was, he wouldn’t be one to let confidence go to his head.  Even when the entire town turns against him, Naofumi still pays back the smithy who helped him earlier.  Honestly, even though he’s done very little in a heroic sense, Naofumi is more hero to me in the first episode than any of the other chosen douchebags.

Hmmmmm…maybe I will give The Rising of the Shield Hero more of a go.  I still haven’t gotten to the Waifu Racoon Girl that everyone seems to gush over in this series so I at least need to give it some more time to see her. I do think the first episode didn’t need to be double length even though it was paced pretty well.  All in all, Shield Hero’s premiere wasn’t bad and acted as a proper introduction to Naofumi and the world that’s screwed him over (complete with tutorial like dialogue cause video game logic).  So yes, shout out to my cosplay friend SpicyCat for recommending this one to me and thanks again for helping me reach 150 First Impression Friday’s.  Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, First Impression Friday will return in 2022.  See ya then.